VCS physicians believe in preventing heart disease just as strongly as they believe in diagnosing and treating it. Early identification of cardiovascular disease plays an important role in treating it. It gives you and your primary care doctor valuable information to develop a lifestyle and treatment plan, if necessary.
VCS has proven its commitment to prevention by being early adopters of technology that has saved countless lives over the last several years.
“We believe we have improved the process to identify cardiovascular disease. As a result of our screenings, many patients will realize benefits five to ten years from now. They will have received treatment early on, made ‘heart friendly’ changes in their lifestyles, and their odds of cardiovascular disease will have decreased significantly.” – Dr. Darryn L. Appleton MD, FACC
Understand Your Risk Factors
In partnership with your Primary Care Physician it is important to understand your risk factors for cardiovascular disease. These can be categorized in controllable and uncontrollable risk factors. Controllable risk factors include:
- Smoking
- High cholesterol
- High blood pressure
- Infrequent exercise
- Obesity
- Diet high in saturated fats and sugar
There are also certain uncontrollable risk factors to take into consideration, including:
- Sex: Men are statistically at a higher risk for cardiovascular diseases than women before the age of 70.
- Race/Ethnicity: African Americans tend to have a higher risk of cardiovascular disease than other races.
- Your family’s history (including extended family members) of cardiovascular disease.
- Age: As you age, you become more at risk for cardiovascular disease.
Screening Opportunities at VCS
VCS offers the Intecardia CT Heart Scan a highly accurate, non-invasive tool to identify heart disease in its early stages. The 256-slice CT scanner takes rapid cross-sectional images of your heart and calculates a calcium score based on the quantity and density of calcium found in your coronary arteries.
VascularView combines three quick and painless vascular screening procedures into one easy appointment. The three tests can identify potentially harmful vascular conditions in the earliest stages before symptoms occur and when treatment is most effective.